Hi all,
I'm not a hugely passionate fan of Sixties cars, generally I prefer my historics up to the Fifties and then Eighties/Nineties stuff. However, the Ferrari P4 is the most beautiful car ever seen on four wheels. The only problem is that none of the slot car versions are accurate enough or affordable enough.
At Le Mans a couple of years ago there was a big display of Ford vs. Ferrari cars and the history of 1964-67. I spent most of my time drooling over the Ferraris but this GT40 was utterly gorgeous:
It was entered for the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours and driven by Innes Ireland and Sir John Whitmore. Apparently it was the first Mk.I to be fitted with the 'definitive' GT40 front end treatment. Having grown up at Silverstone, Innes was usually to be found propping up the bar or prowling round the paddock - frankly he terrified me. Sort of a paddock pirate! However, in his day he was one of the fastest men in the world.
My wife gave me the book Go Like Hell for Christmas and it's an entertaining way to spend a few hours. Makes me wish that they'd made the movie a year or two back, when everything was right on the cusp of going in to production. Anyway, when looking for slot-related stuff to tie in to the book, I saw that Le Mans Decals was offering the set to make this car... so I had to give it a go.
The colour is Ford Linden Green and I actually brush painted this one using a model brush and a little pot of automotive touch-up paint from a classic Ford specialist. Innes Ireland's helmet band was completed with the chequered stripe from Penelope Pitlane's set of 'useful decals for old cars'. The wheels are Racer items that I'd been saving for a rainy day.
In order to fit the rear wheels inside the bodywork I've had to swap it from sidewinder to inline. That was a straight swap from an old Porsche 956 so the motor is now a 25k instead of the old 21k job. This in turn meant Dremelling away a little bit of the interior but actually it's not too intrusive. So here's the result:
In the absence of an accurate or affordable P4, I've got the Betta/Classic P3 body to work on for a running mate. That will be the next project.
There are one or two brush marks but it's not too bad. Even with primer, three thin coats of paint and two layers of varnish the body only weighs 16g! It's completely ineligible for our club's 1960s era class because the wheels and motor aren't stock but I'm hopeful that it will run all right. All in all very happy - hope you like it.
I'm not a hugely passionate fan of Sixties cars, generally I prefer my historics up to the Fifties and then Eighties/Nineties stuff. However, the Ferrari P4 is the most beautiful car ever seen on four wheels. The only problem is that none of the slot car versions are accurate enough or affordable enough.
At Le Mans a couple of years ago there was a big display of Ford vs. Ferrari cars and the history of 1964-67. I spent most of my time drooling over the Ferraris but this GT40 was utterly gorgeous:
It was entered for the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours and driven by Innes Ireland and Sir John Whitmore. Apparently it was the first Mk.I to be fitted with the 'definitive' GT40 front end treatment. Having grown up at Silverstone, Innes was usually to be found propping up the bar or prowling round the paddock - frankly he terrified me. Sort of a paddock pirate! However, in his day he was one of the fastest men in the world.
My wife gave me the book Go Like Hell for Christmas and it's an entertaining way to spend a few hours. Makes me wish that they'd made the movie a year or two back, when everything was right on the cusp of going in to production. Anyway, when looking for slot-related stuff to tie in to the book, I saw that Le Mans Decals was offering the set to make this car... so I had to give it a go.
The colour is Ford Linden Green and I actually brush painted this one using a model brush and a little pot of automotive touch-up paint from a classic Ford specialist. Innes Ireland's helmet band was completed with the chequered stripe from Penelope Pitlane's set of 'useful decals for old cars'. The wheels are Racer items that I'd been saving for a rainy day.
In order to fit the rear wheels inside the bodywork I've had to swap it from sidewinder to inline. That was a straight swap from an old Porsche 956 so the motor is now a 25k instead of the old 21k job. This in turn meant Dremelling away a little bit of the interior but actually it's not too intrusive. So here's the result:
In the absence of an accurate or affordable P4, I've got the Betta/Classic P3 body to work on for a running mate. That will be the next project.
There are one or two brush marks but it's not too bad. Even with primer, three thin coats of paint and two layers of varnish the body only weighs 16g! It's completely ineligible for our club's 1960s era class because the wheels and motor aren't stock but I'm hopeful that it will run all right. All in all very happy - hope you like it.